Roller shutter



June 13, 5&6?

F. GRIESSER ROLLER SHUTTER Filed May 9, 1966 Fig. 2

INVENTOR. HI EC/r/ 16/7 GF/ESSQF BY vdmov" United States Patent Gfiice 3,324,929 Fatented June 13, 1967 3,324,929 ROLLER SHUTTER Friedrich Griesser, Aadorf, Thurgau, Switzeriand, assignor to Griesser A.-G., Aadorf, Thurgau, Switzerland Filed May 9, 1966, Ser. No. 548,636 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Apr. 19, 1963, 4,948/ 63 2 Claims. (Cl. 160-133) AlifiTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A roller shutter having carrier band means provided with the usual slats and at spaced intervals between such normal slats there are inserted reinforced slats to enable the shutter to withstand greater pressures. The reinforced slat is provided with hollow profiles located at each end in which stiffening insert means are inserted with pins to cooperate with the carrier tapes of the shutter.

This is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 359,954, filed Apr. 15, 1964, and now abandoned.

The present invention has reference to an improved roller shutter of the type provided with pivotable slats secured upon carrier bands or tapes at an equal spacing from one another and windable upon a roller unit.

Roller shutters of the aforementioned type are known to the art. Since the slats are manufactured from thin material they tend to easily bend when subjected to pronounced wind pressure. This has the disadvantage that the closed roller shutter leaks and can also lead to a permanent change in shape of the slats. Indeed, redress of these disadvantages can be had by providing stronger slats, yet in so doing manufacturing costs increase, additionally the wind-up drum or roller must be larger, and the operation of the unit becomes more difficult.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present in vention to provide an improved roller shutter construction capable of withstanding considerable external loads without deformation.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of an improved roller shutter which is highly reliable in operation, capable of withstanding pronounced external loads without deforming thereby retaining a leakproof construction, as well as a shutter which is economical to manufacture.

Still a further important object of the subject invention is the provision of an improved construction of reinforced roller shutter slat capable of application in conjunction with normal slats and providing for the entire roller shutter assembly advantages respecting resistance to external loads and deformation.

Now, an essential feature of the present invention resides in the provision of individual slats which are reinforced in order to accommodate increased demands, such reinforced slats being arranged in each instance for pivotable movement at the carrier bands after a number of so-called normal slats arranged following one another.

Since the individual slats support themselves at an edge upon the next following slat the construction of individual reinforced slats results in an overall increase of the rigidity of a larger portion of the roller shutter. The manufacturing costs are not considerably larger than with normal slats and the space requirements of the wind-up roller for the roller shutter remains practically the same.

The reinforced slats of the present invention can exhibit a hollow section or profile. Advantageously, the hollow profile comp-rises a frontal face which is outwardly convex and a rearward face convex in the same direction, as well as side walls which connect the same together.

The ends bounding at the carrier bands and the portion bordering at the openings for the drawstrings or tension bandsof the reinforced slats can be provided with inserts engaging in the aforesaid section or profile. These inserts carry pins for example allowing for the rotatable mounting of the slats at the carrier bands and tension bands. Advantageously, the reinforced slats possess the same length and width as Well as a similar external profile as the normal slats.

Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 diagrammatically illustrates a portion of the inventive roller shutter provided, by way of illustration, with five slats; and

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a reinforced slat employed with the roller shutter of FIGURE 1.

Describing now the drawing, the illustrated roller shutter is shown, by way of example, as employing five series arranged slats of different construction and manufactured of sheet metal or synthetic material eg plastic, although it will be appreciated a different or larger number of slats, as necessary, can be used in the roller shutter. It will be seen that following the so-called normal slats 1, 2 is a reinforced slat 3 and then again a normal slat 4 followed by a reinforced slat 3.

The normal slats 1, 2 and 4 incorporate a body member 30 flexed in such a manner that its external face 31 is convex towards the outside. Moreover, each body member 30 of the normal slats 1, 2 and 4 is advantageously provided at its upper end or edge with a bulbous or curled portion 32 and at its lower end or edge with an upwardly flexed rim or lip against which bears the aforesaid bulbous portion 32 of the next lower slat.

A carrier band or tape 5 is provided at each end of the slats 1-4, for convenience in illustration only one such carrier band is shown at the left of the roller shutter of FIGURE 1. Each carrier band 5 is provided with support means 6, 7, 8 and 9, for distance configured as U-shaned support bands, receiving pins 10, 11, 12 and 13 carried by the slats 1-4 respectively. Additionally, the slats 1-4 are provided with a draw tape 130, which is connected to the curled edges 32 of the normal slats and the edges 35 of the reinforced slats by any known means (not shown) such as illustrated at 10, FIGURE 1, in the United States patent to F. Griesser, No. 2,840,156, whereby to permit rotation of the slats along their edges 32 or 35. The slats may be provided with openings 14, 15, 16 and 17 through which there is applied a supporting band 18 which rotatably engages via fastening elements 34 connected with the associated tension band 18 inwardly curled flaps or tabs 19, 20, 21 and 22 arranged eccentric to the center of the associated slat. It should be appreciated that if the drawband or tension band 18 is pulled the slats 1-4 are rocked about the corresponding pins 10-13 respectively into desired position. The winding-up of the roller shutter unit occurs in known manner by means of the carrier bands 5 windable upon a suitable non-illustrated roller or drum, such as shown at FIGURES 2 and 3 of the aforementioned patent to Griesser.

The illustrated reinforced slat 3 corresponds completely in its convex external side or face 23 to a normal slat i, 2 or 4, see FIGURE 2. Here again, reinforced slat 3 incorporates a bulbous portion 35 at its upper edge and an upwardly flexed rim or lip 36 at its lower edge. The body portion 23a of slat 3, in particular the outwardly convex forward face 23 of such body portion together with the convex rearward face or portion 24 and the side walls 24a and 24b form a hollow section or profile 25a. Such construction results in an improvement of the longitudinal stiffness of the slat 4, so that it can also withstand stronger 3 wind pressure. Since the individual slats in the closed condition of the roller shutter unit bear with one edge 32 or 35 against the lip 33 or 36 of the neighboring slat the larger stability of the roller shutter is also then provided for if only each fifth or tenth slat is of the reinforced type, such as reinforced slat 3.

According to another aspect of the invention a further increase of the rigidity or stiffness of the roller shutter is achieved by the provision of inserts 25, 26, 27 which are pushed into the hollow profile or section 2511 of the reinforced slat 3 and which carry the means for securing and pivotably mounting the slats. Thus, for example, insert 26 carries pin means 12 for the carrier band 5 and inserts 26, 27 the pin means or tab 21 for the supporting band.

While there is shown and described a present preferred embodiment of the invention it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practised within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a roller shutter comprising carrier band means, slat means pivotally connected at substantially equal spacing from one another to said carrier band means, said slat means incorporating a plurality of normal slat members and a plurality of individual reinforced slat members, each individual reinforced slat member being pivotably connected to said carrier band means at spaced intervals with at least one normal slat filling each spaced interval,

each of said reinforced slats comprising a body member with a first convex surface defining front and rear faces of the slat; a second surface convex in the same direction as said first and spaced from the rear surface of said first convex surface; side wall means connecting said second convex surface to the rear of said first convex surface, whereby said second convex surface, side walls, and rear face of said first convex surface define at least two hollow profiles, located one at each end; stiffening insert means carried within said profiles and pin means carried by said inserts, for cooperating with said carrier tapes of the shutter.

2. In a roller shutter as set forth in claim 1 wherein said reinforced slat has an opening in said slat for passage therethrough of a supporting band; and a hollow profile on each side of said opening, stiffening inserts therein, and pin means associated with each insert, for cooperating with said supporting band.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 546,858 9/1895 Kinnear 232 2,391,904 1/1946 Junkunc 160178 2,840,156 6/1958 Griesser 160133 3,110,036 11/1963 Berard 160-236 X DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

P. M. CAUN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A ROLLER SHUTTER COMPRISING CARRIER BAND MEANS, SLAT MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL SPACING FROM ONE ANOTHER TO SAID CARRIER BAND MEANS, SAID SLAT MEANS INCORPORATING A PLURALITY OF NORMAL SLAT MEMBERS AND A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL REINFORCED SLAT MEMBERS, EACH INDIVIDUAL REINFORCED SLAT MEMBER BEING PIVOTABLY CONNECTED TO SAID CARRIER BAND MEANS AT SPACED INTERVALS WITH AT LEAST ONE NORMAL SLAT FILLING EACH SPACED INTERVAL, EACH OF SAID REINFORCED SLATS COMPRISING A BODY MEMBER WITH A FIRST CONVEX SURFACE DEFINING FRONT AND REAR FACES OF THE SLAT; A SECOND SURFACE CONVEX IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS SAID FIRST AND SPACED FROM THE REAR SURFACE OF SAID FIRST CONVEX SURFACE; SIDE WALL MEANS CONNECTING SAID SECOND CONVEX SURFACE TO THE REAR OF SAID FIRST CONVEX SURFACE, WHEREBY SAID SECOND CONVEX SURFACE, SIDE WALLS, AND REAR FACE OF SAID FIRST CONVEX SURFACE DEFINE AT LEAST TWO HOLLOW PROFILES, LOCATED ONE AT EACH END; STIFFENING INSERT MEANS CARRIED WITHIN SAID PROFILES AND PIN MEANS CARRIED BY SAID INSERTS, FOR COOPERATING WITH SAID CARRIED TAPES OF THE SHUTTER. 